Brussels, 20/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - Last Tuesday in Strasbourg, Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou met the President of the Confederation of German Unions (DGB), Michael Sommer, who was seeking to discuss the delicate issue of temporary workers and flexibility of the labour markets. This meeting can been seen in the context of the Hartz Committee report, which proposes radical reform of the German labour market and which both the Commissioner and the German Minister of Economic Affairs and Employment last November (see EUROPE 19 November 2002).
On the subject of labour market flexibility, Anna Diamantopoulou, affirmed that it was necessary to see this market as a "common European problem and not only as a problem peculiar to Germany". She also said that proof was needed of efforts to open up new working conditions, in order that this was not simply flexibility in one direction. Andrew Fielding, spokesman for the Commissioner said that facilitating conditions for making workers redundant should only be done if there were something for the workers in the form of life-long training or preparation for managing dramatic changes to the companies they working for. The Commissioner stressed that "flexibility had a double meaning, including the legitimate interests of the workers to have at their disposal the instruments to deal with the problems in their companies.
Michaele Sommer also gave his "very strong support" to the directive proposed by Ms Diamantopoulou regarding temporary work. This directive has been blocked at the Council by the German government, pointed out the Commissioner, noting that according to Germany they should go further in the direction of protecting temporary workers.